Florida Gators Fans: The Swamp, the Chomp and a Cheer That Rescued a Game.
In 1949, Florida was hosting The Citadel and the home crowd was booing its own team. A fan named George Edmondson stood up. He got the crowd cheering instead. That small act of defiance became a pregame ritual that lasted for decades.
That is the Gator Nation in one scene: a crowd that can turn on itself in a minute and turn back in the next.
Florida Gators fans are the supporters of the University of Florida athletics program in Gainesville. They are known for a stadium nicknamed “The Swamp”, the arm-over-arm Gator Chomp, and a third-quarter sing-along that has fans swaying with their arms around strangers.
This is Fandom of the Week Article 15, and it follows our looks at Auburn Tigers fans and Miami Hurricanes fans. Every week we ask the same thing: what makes a fan base a community and not just a crowd?
— THE COMMUNITY —
Florida Gators Fans: A Mascot, a Nickname and a Drink
Florida football played its first season in 1906, and the fan base grew with it. The mascot is Albert, depicted as a live alligator in 1957 and given a full-body vinyl costume in 1970. Alberta joined him in 1986. Fans call themselves the Gator Nation, and the name fits: they live across the country, but they still use the same chomp.
Few schools can claim a product invented on campus. In 1965, Dr. Robert Cade and a team of research fellows began work on the drink that became Gatorade. It was first tested on the Gators’ “B” team, with permission from coach Ray Graves. On October 2, 1965, players tried the experimental drink in a win over LSU in 102-degree heat. The following January, Florida beat Georgia Tech 27 to 12 in the Orange Bowl, the program’s first appearance there. The drink’s early link to the team became part of one of college sports’ most famous origin stories.
It also hands Gator fans a favorite point of pride: a drink that now sits on sidelines everywhere started with a team of researchers at their university.
The results gave the fan base reasons to brag. Florida claims national championships in 1996, 2006 and 2008, and it has three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier in 1966, Danny Wuerffel in 1996 and Tim Tebow in 2007, according to the program’s history. Spurrier came back as head coach in 1990, and the Swamp era grew out of that hire. If you want to know why a game feels different on a campus, our look at college football fan culture explains it.
— THE RITUAL —
Gator Game Day: The Chomp, the Cheer and the Sway
The Gator Chomp
The chomp is simple. Fans extend both arms, one palm down and one palm up, then snap them shut like an alligator’s jaws. It has a known birthday. Pep band members Rob Hyatt and Monty Musgrave created it in 1981 after seeing a Mississippi State game where the home band played the Jaws theme while cheerleaders made a rhythmic arm motion. Their version debuted the following week at LSU and reached Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 10, 1981, in a win over Maryland.
Today, UF says the chomp is traditionally used when the band plays the Jaws theme before every kickoff. Fans also use it after big plays and wins, and to taunt opponents. It is the most visible gesture in the stadium.
Mr. Two Bits
George Edmondson’s cheer in 1949 became a pregame tradition. He led it from 1949 until 2008, retiring briefly in 1998 and returning for ten more, and he stepped aside for good after the 2008 season. The cheer uses three big arm circles that end with the right arm over the head. In 2013, UF began inviting guests to lead it. Edmondson died on July 2, 2019, at 97.
The school honored him as more than a cheerleader, with a mural commemorating him planned inside Gate 1. For a fan base that likes to say it is a family, that is the closest thing to a Hall of Fame: a stranger in a yellow shirt who got a stadium to stand up, year after year.
We Are the Boys
Between the third and fourth quarters of home games, fans stand, put their arms around their neighbors and sway while “We Are the Boys from Old Florida” plays. UF calls it one of the longest-running and most beloved traditions. Nobody checks whether the person next to you is a friend.
After home wins, the team, coaches, band and fans sing the Alma Mater together, with arms raised at two points in the song. Fans keep it going. The ritual is the point.
— THE IDENTITY —
The Swamp: Why Visitors Hate It and Gators Love It
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium opened in 1930 and seats more than 88,000, making it the largest stadium in Florida. In 1992, coach Steve Spurrier phoned Gainesville Sun columnist Mike Bianchi with an idea, and Bianchi’s column that June introduced the nickname: “The Swamp.” Spurrier’s explanation was blunt. A swamp is where gators live, and they feel comfortable there, but he hoped opponents would feel tentative.
Heat and humidity help, as does the noise. The stadium has a reputation as one of the loudest in the country and one of the hardest to visit. For a fan base that calls itself a nation, home field is the closest thing to a capital.
Think about what that does to a visiting fan. The sound comes from all sides, the chomp rolls through the stands before kickoff, and the heat sits on the field for four quarters. Home games are social events as much as football games.
The Cocktail Party
Georgia gives the season its edge. The teams have met every year since 1926, except 1943, according to a history of the series. The game was played at neutral sites early on and settled in Jacksonville, close to the border and easy to reach by rail. Stadium renovations are temporarily moving it to Atlanta in 2026 and Tampa in 2027, according to Florida Athletics, with Jacksonville set to host again from 2028. Press coverage of the tailgating created the nickname “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” and both schools later distanced themselves from the label. Today it is often called the War for the Oar.
For other rivalries with this much weight, see our ranking of the greatest college football rivalries, our guide to college football traditions and the story behind Ohio State and Michigan.
— THE GLOSSARY —
The Terms Every Florida Gators Fan Uses and What They Mean
Gator Nation
Fans of Florida athletics, wherever they live.
The Swamp
Nickname for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium since 1992.
Gator Chomp
Arm-over-arm gesture, traditionally used when the band plays the Jaws theme before kickoff.
Mr. Two Bits
George Edmondson’s pregame cheer, started in 1949 and led by guests today.
We Are the Boys
Sing-along between the third and fourth quarters, with arms around neighbors.
Albert
Mascot, depicted as an alligator since 1957 and costumed since 1970.
Gatorade
Sports drink invented at UF in 1965.
Florida fans did not just inherit a stadium and a team. They built a language of gestures that anyone can learn in a minute.
Go Gators.
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